News

Singapore received a record number of tourists during the first half of 2006, according to the latest figures.

The statistics break all previous records for tourism in the country, with 4.7m people visiting in the first six months of the year, reports the People's Daily.

Singapore's minister of state for trade and industry revealed that visitor numbers increased by 11.8% compared to the same period last year.

'This is the highest number of visitor arrivals ever recorded in the first half of any year,' said Mr S Iswaran.

The amount of money spent in the country has also increased, with tourists spending 5.5 billion Singapore dollars (£1.8 billion).

This signals an increase of 5.2% compared to the first six months of 2005.

Singapore's government hopes to double the number of people visiting the country to 17m by 2015.

Mr Iswaran went on to point out that tourism remains one of the country's key sectors in sustaining growth.

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